Jay-Z is proud of his rags-to-riches story which he says embodies "the American dream".

The rapper and business mogul was raised in Brooklyn, and had a troubled youth.

But since then, the multi-millionaire musician has produced numerous hit albums and owns his own basketball team, The Nets.

Since Jay-Z's part-ownership of the team, the basketball squad have upped their roots in New Jersey and moved to his native Brooklyn.

Speaking at the launch of the NBA 2013 video game, in which he was an executive producer, the rapper said: "Yeah I think I'm the American Dream."

"That whole thing that you could come here and pull yourself up by the bootstraps, like that whole thing what America has always put up to the world that we represent. I feel that. Yes, I've lived that."

Now that he owns a basketball team, Mr Beyonce has achieved one of his wildest dreams.

As a child, he says, he dreamed of glory on the basketball court. "You know the three-two-one, oh, he hits the winning shot.

"But no one was ever on the court saying I was gonna own the Knicks. Yes, it's way beyond any of my wildest dreams."